PARTY PLANNING TO THE LETTER!

Outdoors

Spring means warmer weather, and the excitement of parties outdoors can be tons of fun! Party at a local park. Often cities have areas or pavilions you can rent for an event, and the kids can burn off energy by playing on the playground or going for a hike or walk. At home, use your backyard for a camping-theme adventure, setting up a movie theater for a viewing under the stars, or create a carnival atmosphere with cool games.

IIce Cream

For a delicious dessert, set up a make-your-own sundae bar with ice cream and all the toppings. Make serving easier by pre-scooping ice cream into muffin tins and freeze until you need them.

If your theme is ice cream, let kids shake up their own ice cream in a bag for an experimental activity. Or you can bring the ice cream to you with a rental truck.

Joint Party

Consider holding a joint birthday party with one of your child’s friends. This way, you can split the costs, the planning and the workload.

Kindness

Be sure to model kindness at your child’s party. The party can be an opportunity to remind her of kindness and gratitude, especially if she is too young to understand why saying “thank you” after every gift is important.

Logistics

Keep everything organized with lists. It might be helpful for you to write out a to-do list that includes your budget as you research venues, entertainers, food, themes and more. When it’s party time, make sure to keep a list of who gives your child what present for keeping track of thank you notes.

Menu

For an at-home party, keep the food simple. Chicken nuggets, pizza, sandwiches, cake and ice cream are easy. For drinks, drink cartons are less mess for kids, and you can have a separate drink area for adults with pitchers and cups. Consider what items you could make ahead and ask friends or relatives to pitch in to bring food. Also, hold the party after lunchtime to serve snacks and finger foods, rather than having to worry about a full meal.

At a venue, locations often will offer party food packages as part of the pricing or as an add-on option.

No-Gift Party

Avoid toy overload with a gift-free party. Have your child pick a charity guests can donate to or ask guests to bring donations for a food pantry, toys for a children’s hospital or supplies for an animal shelter.

If your child is not ready to give up gifts, ask him to think about items he’d be willing to donate to make room for the new toys he’ll receive.

Q R S

Photos

One fun activity that’ll entertain your child and his friends, as well as document the day, is a photo booth. Set up a backdrop that matches the theme of the party and add props and dress-up clothes. You may feel that it’s worth investing in the camera equipment and software, you can rent the equipment, or you can use a sheet and DIY it with your cell phone.

Queen (or King) for a Day

As much as possible, on her birthday, let her choose how the day will go by doing whatever she wants. Host a movie night as a family and let her choose the movie and the snacks. Let her decide what you order for dinner or what games to play. For her party, involve her in the decision making as much as possible.

Rsvp

You’re not a nag! Check in with anyone you did not receive a RSVP from by the deadline. Always list the deadline as a few days before you really need the final count to give yourself time for these check ins.

Siblings

As a host, know that you might be asked if it’s OK for a guest to bring a sibling. Don’t be afraid to be honest; you may not have room for extra people in your home, or the venue might charge you extra the more guests you have. If you cannot accommodate extra people, be clear in your invitation. For kids up to the age of 6, a parent may stay with them for the duration of the party.

For your own children, ask older siblings to help. Pay them to help you clean, set up activities or pet sit. See if younger siblings can spend the time with one of their friends if it’s your older child’s party.

TThemes

Give your child a choice between a few themes you know you can make work. Some easy ideas: puppets, LEGOs, tea party, sports, glow-in-the-dark, arts, beach, culinary, favorite movie/show/book, spa, rainbow, under the sea, cars, animals, princesses, pirates, unicorns, superheroes, mermaids or dinosaurs.

Then, incorporate that theme into as many elements of the party as possible—invitations, décor, paper goods, cake, activities and the goodie bag.

Upcycle

Think about ways you can upcycle materials you already own into handmade decorations before buying new party supplies. Order a lot of takeout? Reuse the plastic silverware you’ve received and add paint to the handles for a pop of color and to match the colors of the party. Use old yarn to create a decorative tassel garland. Glue glitter to old clothespins to create a photo display or hang birthday banners or signs. Use recyclable materials, like felt, cardboard, Mason jars and string lights, to decorate. Set up white packing paper as a tablecloth for kids to decorate and color. Upcycle old T-shirts to create cloth napkins.

VVenues

Holding a party at a venue will take some of the stress off you—you won’t have to worry about cleaning, hosting or the menu. However, make sure the place is within your budget and will be able to accommodate the amount of people your child wants to invite. Also, check the age requirements. If your child is not old enough for some of the rides or activities offered, the party won’t be fun for them. Book early, especially if the venue is popular.

WWaste-Free

Even if you’re trying to be more eco-friendly, it can be easy to go overboard with a birthday party. Keep these ideas in mind for less waste: l Have a clearly labeled recyclable bin for guests to dispose of items properly. l Opt for reusable, classic decorations that can be pulled out every single year, or use items you already own, such as colored lights from Christmas. As much as possible, try to use eco-friendly decorations. Beware: balloons claiming to be ecofriendly still aren’t great for the environment. l Buy new-to-you items from a local thrift store. l Consider asking friends, family and neighbors if they have any leftover party decorations you could use or borrow. l Don’t overdo the food preparation. Rather than ending up with loads of leftovers, put out only what is necessary. l Use reusable plates, metal cutlery, real cups and cloth napkins. You can buy colored and pretty paper straws for drinks. l Hold a “fiver” party. Instead of presents, each guest will bring $5 for your child to buy an item he really wants. l Consider environmentally-friendly party favors, such as a leftover cupcake, play dough, flower seeds and a mini pot or a book. l Save the gift bags and tissue paper to reuse for future gifts and holidays.

XX Marks the Spot

Set up a scavenger hunt game for guests. Create a list of clues or a map that leads to a hidden prize. You can set up this activity indoors or outdoors.

YYard Décor

You can build your own yard sign to celebrate the birthday child, or buy the service via celebrationyardgreeting.com, cardmyyard.com or peachtreeyardcards.com. Help guests find your home by placing a sign outside or tying balloons to the front door or mailbox. Decorate the fence or gate with streamers. Decorate the driveway with chalk and leave the chalk out for guests to add their own well wishes.

ZZzzz’s

For tweens, think about hosting a slumber party. You will need to include breakfast plans in your menu. Since kids will be too excited to sleep, you likely won’t get a lot of sleep either, and you’ll need to think about where the kids will set up their sleeping bags. Not everyone will want to sleepover, so have a plan to include those kids for the evening activities and set a pickup time for after the activities are done.

For younger kids, consider a “sleep-under” party. More like a pajama party, this is for kids who aren’t ready to commit to a sleepover. Guests will arrive in PJs with a favorite stuffed animal and a sleeping bag to watch a movie. You can also serve dinner and decorate cookies for dessert before sending guests back home to sleep.